A Prompt Idea: Writing Ideas for Raising Readers

As you may remember from my post about letters to Santa, one of my goals for 2010 is not only to write more notes for my daughter, but also to let her see me writing more.

Modeling writing is important, as it is one way to help her become more comfortable with writing. I have tucked a couple of silly notes and cartoons into her lunch box and written in my journal at the table while she does her homework. It isn't an everyday thing, but it is something I am doing more consciously and consistently

All that thinking about writing and encouraging my daughter to write ultimately led to A Prompt Idea, a new column here at Booklights that will explore writing. Each month, I'll talk about writing and suggest ways to add writing to children's literacy diet.

Even if your child isn't ready to put pen to paper, prompts can open the doors to building vocabulary, honing communication skills, and being creative. Varying the outlets for writing and communicating is as important as offering different types of reading materials. With that in mind, I am going to use the concept of writing prompts as the foundation of to create literacy prompts. So let's get started ...

Prompts are like open-ended questions. They can help you bypass the yes-or-no answer, but sometimes nothing comes back. The question "What did you learn today at school?" is a great example. As parents, we're thinking, after six hours, Sammy should have lots to tell us. Sammy is thinking Geez, I don't know; so much happened where should I start? I can't remember. The proverbial brain freeze.

The same thing happens when we ask kids to "write about anything you want." That works for some kids, but for others it is too broad. That's where prompts can help. A writing prompt is a "device" to narrow the focus and help you start writing.

Prompts can be in the form of a question or the first few words of a phrase or sentence which the writer completes.

A prompt might ask you to describe something (sitting in a waiting room); explain something (how to plant a flower); persuade someone (why should I donate money to the library?); or finish an idea (When the blue bear ran in front of me, ...).

The results can take lots of forms, though they are most commonly associated with journal entries or essays.

There are prompts for every type of writing, from creative to narrative to topical, on all kinds of topics, and lots of children's books. In the months to come, we'll explore many of them. For now, I've included a selection of resources at the end of this post. As you'll see, there is no shortage of writing prompt lists and prompt generators (based on words you plug in). Although many sites are for authors or educators, they can be helpful to parents, too.

Here are some Prompt Ideas for February. As part of this series, I will close each post with some writing prompt suggestions focused on topics relevant to that month.They may be helpful in just talking about ideas, dinner conversation, or as the start of a writing project.

2 Comments

Rachael writes...

Here's another great prompt idea from the PBS family: The Exquisite Prompt Writing Challenge (www.readingrockets.org/books/fun/exquisiteprompt), a year-long activity from WETA's Reading Rockets and AdLit.org, gives students in K–12 a chance to flex their writing muscles — and win fabulous prizes! The Exquisite Prompts are offered in connection with each of the authors and illustrators participating in The Exquisite Corpse Adventure at www.read.gov. In February, Shannon Hale (The Princess Academy) and Calef Brown (Soup for Breakfast) are the inspirations for prompts of poems about invented animals, fantastic fables, Herculean efforts, pourquoi comics and more. The prompt schedule through June 2010 is also available.

The Exquisite Corpse has been so much fun, and theWriting Challenge is a great complement to that for school-aged kids. With some of these ideas - like cutting out pictures for a Valentines - we can plant the seeds of storytelling and writing with pre-readers.

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